I don't know how explicitly he has stated the conservation of value idea, but it has been a clear implication of his metaphor in the instances where I've heard him talk about this.
Conservation of energy is the central concept of physics. In every interaction, total energy before equals total energy after.
By contrast, the central insight of economics is that in every voluntary interaction, total value before is less than total value after.
Hold up...
central insight of economics is that in every voluntary interaction, total value before is less than total value after.
Is this always true? I doubt it. People make mistakes. Value is lost at times. On the whole we see free markets increase the size of the pie. Its not zero sum. I'd love to hear Saylor asked questions like this.
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You're exactly right about that correction. I was speaking a bit too loosely. What we actually say is that value after is expected to be greater than value before, otherwise the parties involved wouldn't agree to the transaction. People can, of course, misjudge these things and end up regretting a decision.
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Ah! I see what you are saying.
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